As Hong Kong intensifies its integration with the mainland, opening its arms to mainland visitors and investors, many have pointed to how the city gains economically from such cross-pollination. Indeed, the influx of mainland visitors has boosted the local tourism and retail industries. The mainland factor also enabled us to make a quick recovery from the global financial crisis.
This is a far cry from the early post-handover years, when local people were very worried about the city being 'mainlandised'.
Nowadays, they blame the government for not doing enough to lobby the central government to feature Hong Kong more prominently in the national five-year plan, or fight for better provisions in the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement to aid the entry of our enterprises and professionals into the mainland market. The mainland has almost been proclaimed the guarantor of the city's growth and prosperity.
The reality for Hong Kong, though, lies between the two extremes of total pessimism and optimism. Economic integration is a two-way street; gain comes with pain.
Just two years ago, people were excited about mainland investors buying into the local property market, pushing up housing prices and escalating the wealth effect. Now, many complain that property prices are out of control, partly due to such mainland purchases and speculation. The anxieties of young members of our middle class who do not own their own home are feeding into the growing social discontent.
Most economists and analysts forecast a continuing upward surge in property prices in the year ahead. A recent study by Polytechnic University concluded that up to 30 per cent of Hong Kong households are sandwich-class families who cannot afford to buy a home but do not qualify for public housing. Demographia, a US-based urban planning consultancy, rated properties in Hong Kong 'severely unaffordable', worse than other high-priced cities like London and New York.